Cornell & Diehl Burley Flake #3

The Burley Flake line by Cornell & Diehl is a treasure. It's the finest Burley I've ever tried. Generally, making straight Burley blends is a risky business; few producers cope really well with that. Burley tobacco easily gets bity or bitter or, otherwise, bland (like in celebrated Solani Aged Burley Flake, a favourite of many but not of mine). In the case of C&D, however, the result is stellar: all four blends are superbly balanced.

All four varieties deliver equally good healthy dose of Nicotine, while flavourwise they are not overly full (they shouldn't be: it's Burley). The flavour is rather thin-bodied, like the flavour of a light liquor (say, tequila) against dark spiced rum. Adding to the similarity with clear liquors, the Burley smoke, instead of flavour fullness, has unique sensatory qualities, unlike most other tobaccos. It's hard to describe the feeling, I just can say I love that soft alkaline "throat hit" when inhaling the smoke a bit.

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Well, that was about the whole line. And now to this exact variety, the Burley Flake #3.

I find this one the tastiest of the four. Ingredients of the Blend #3 are pretty much the same as in the Blend #1 (Burley, Virginia, Perique) sans Kentucky. Apparently, the condimental tobaccos are added more generously than in #1, which may explain the richer flavour, with a rare hint of sweetness.

Great tobaccos. Try all four of them. You'll be rewarded with an experience you won't get with other blends.

BF#3 is very similar to BF#1, only much stronger. In fact, it is BF#1's big hairy brother! Everything I said in my review of BF#1 is true also for BF#3 - nutty, strong(er), stout and densely perique/burly fragrant. I enjoyed smoking this blend straight out of the tin; especially the room note. It has performed better than either BF#2 or BF#1 in micro blending and really makes my English blends sing. I have now smoked all four of the Burley Flake variations and for my tastes and blending purposes, I rank them as follows: first BF#4 (its an English blend in it's own right), then BF#3, then BF#1 followed by BF#2 (this one gave me tongue bite).

Love it, smoked a fat bowl of this with a 10% alc. high quality stout beer by Peak organic. Can you say roasty toasty? This is great smoke. Call me crazy but I love it first thing with a super dark black cup of joe. Just to get warmed up before moving on to G.W.Co Brown Irish X. I like em' strong being an ex cig smoker.

11/27/11 I Will add it seems to smoke wet. Even after a month of open tin. Rub it, dry it for an hour then smoke it. Maybe a better result. Pack her lightly. Maybe its my pipe selection but every smoke lately seems wet..I do like it though. It takes some work. Where as black..no no no different post..

Cornell & Diehl Burley Flakes, all 4 blends make me slobber and drool all over my precious briar pipes, its probably uncouth to say that, but were all brothers here. Highly recommended.

This is very tasty tobacco,if you like burley and can handle the nicotine hit you get with this one then you will love it also.I am a huge burley lover and I believe Cornell & Diehl blends some of the best bureys in the buisness! Very flavorful and burns very cleanly to a fine ash.For some reason this burley blend nocks me over with nicotine,perhaps its because I like the taste so much and tend to smoke this blend rapidly.Excellent.

I like Burley blends and this is one of the best. Has the great base notes of Burley - nutty - with hints of sweetness from the Virginia and a nice level of spice from Perique. Well balanced. Burns clean and does not get bitter at the bottom of the bowl. I like the flake presentation too. As with most tin tobacco, I left the lid off overnight bringing it to a moisture content I like. Along with Burley Flake #4, and MacBaren's London Blend, I am a happy camper.

It was not up until now(08:22 2010-09-03) I learned about the tobaccomanufacturors with the trade mark "CORNELL & DIEHL inc."browsing around in the site for pleasure and advise.Trough thorough investigation I found the apropriate merchant in USA and sent application and retail for a modest batch of some of their finest in stock.

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the tin with the four star brand "BURLEY FLAKE #3"caught my immediate attention for a direct survey.Soft and moist,somewhat spongy type of flake in 3mm slices perfectly packed with care in a common tincan,smelling of perique tobacco and the overwehlming cacao aroma from the burleytobacco....nice.I recomend a big bowl,this is one of the best burleys I ever have smoked.Clean taste of tobacco with the perfectly balanced addition of virginia and perique,an accentuation of the burleystyle tobacco that enhances itself very generously,with very small means indeed.This is a masterpiece.BF#3 is easy to tuck down in the bowl,needs a if not agressive so intensive lighting up,it is pretty moist though,but burns perfectly if you start it up with a real cloud.My new everyday choise besides "Brobergs Burley".

Cornell and Diehl list Burley, Kentucky, Perique and Virginia as the ingredients for their Burley Flake #3. Having smoked it, although I can smell and taste all the listed varietals, I must say, here’s a strong blend for those who just can’t get enough Burley. Unless you’ve got a worse itch than mine, this ought to scratch it!

In the tin are perfectly moist, light to dark brown and red-brown broken flakes smelling of musty, earthy, slightly smoky, fermenting barley way over a sort of fermenting, dark fruit compote, mid-band but very deep, almost turgid, with notable sharpness and overtones. IMO, it’s easier and better after some rest and critical drying. For some time I loaded the chunky “ribbons” vertically into a #6 pipe and really took my time with it. Though it burned fine I often let it to go out, so as not to fall over from the nicotine. I came to realize that the “key” for me is not the size of the pipe, per se, rather I prefer it in a “wide-enough” bowl, with a very open draw, in order to burn a fair amount at once while keeping the velocity of air across it slow. This makes for great clouds of cool, highly flavorsome smoke. The sharp, musty, nutty, bitter Burley is on top, followed closely by slightly smoky, deep, tannic, fatty, piquant KY, followed by deep, sour, spicy Perique, with earthy, tart, stoved red and earthy, sweet, air cured brown VAs bringing up the rear. The lot is smoked, bitter nuts along with tastes of the tin notes, top to bottom, and though it’s fairly bluff and almost prickly it’s also very rich. A “trick” I quite like with this one: for the last 1/3 the tastes and aromas both have a sort of “bottomless” quality; very nice. All in all, this one is plenty saturated enough for me, so I have no urge whatsoever to pull for more. Strength is quite strong. Tastes are full. For all its strength, the room note isn’t so bad, really. Aftertaste is the best of the smoke. It remains full and rich as it lingers and loops back from Burley bitter to VA sweet, with most of the bitterness gone from the nuts

In case it’s not already obvious, I will say outright that BF3 is not for beginners or those who are fasting. I suggest to one and all to take it easy with this one until you get your bearings with it. This is a 4 star blend, for sure, but it won’t appeal to everyone, and the incautious may regret it.

Update, 10-12-19: During a recent bout of PAD I wound up with a beautiful, delicate poker that looks like a child's toy. Upon closer inspection, with thin chamber walls and greater depth than usual in proportion to size, I'd say it's close to a traditional #4 in capacity, and it's a terrific smoker. Smoking a load of BF #3 tobacco with this pipe brings to mind the little ray gun Will Smith used in the original Men In Black movie! This is Great Stuff, if you're prepared for it.

Another home run from C&D. Agree with most of the comments. I normally stay away from flake tobacco, I just don't want to bother with it, so I just cut the strips in small cubes with a pair of scissors, so its cube cut. A little too moist straight out of the tin however. I dried mine on a sheet of tin foil. For the burley lover without a doubt. The Perique was also very tasty and well done. Didn't taste alot of the Virginia however which was fine, the blend was mixed perfectly. I wished it came in bulk. I really can't say enough about the offering from C&D. The best tobacco people on the planet